


Enough to Break the Ice

by Lecavayay



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: 5 +1, Flirting, M/M, Oblivious Kuch, Pally is long-suffering, Tampa Bay Lightning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-05-18
Packaged: 2018-11-02 06:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10938864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lecavayay/pseuds/Lecavayay
Summary: 5 times Tyler hit on Kuch and got no response and the 1 time he did





	Enough to Break the Ice

1.

Tyler bounces over to where the new guy is hunched over, lacing up his skates in silence. He plops down on the bench and slides in as close as he can without actually touching him. Personal space and all that.

“Hey, how much does a polar bear weigh?” he asks with a wide grin, gaze flicking back to where Pally is absolutely rolling his eyes.

The new guy’s fingers freeze on his laces, halfway into tying a knot. He abruptly sits up and Tyler has to lean back to give him room.

“Enough to break the ice,” he says, extending his hand forward. “I’m Johnny. Or TJ. Or Tyler.”

“Nikita.”

“Nice to meet you. Officially.”

“Yes.”

Overall, he looks unsure of the entire situation. Tyler wonders if it’s a language thing. Maybe Vladdy can help get across the hilarity of his terrible pick-up line.

“You’re scaring him,” Pally says, tugging Tyler up off the bench and back over to where their practice jerseys are hanging.

“No I wasn’t!”

“You were. Look at him. He’s terrified.”

“He’s fine. I think he likes me.”

Pally lets out a long-suffering sigh. “God help him.”

 

2.

Of course Nikita scores on his first shot of his first shift of his first NHL game. Tyler knew he liked the guy but, that’s just unfairly hot.

“What are you doing, you look like you’re going to leap over the boards,” Pally hisses, wiping off his visor.

“Did you see that though?”

“You’re embarrassing yourself. And me.”

“I can’t help that he’s perfect.”

“You don’t even know him.”

“With a face like that, I totally don’t need to know him. Like, his mouth? Why is it the way it is?”

“It’s a mouth.”

“You’ve obviously never met a nice mouth before.”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

Tyler realizes too late that Kuch, now back on the bench, has ended up directly to his right. A little accidental flirting never hurt anyone but it’s possible he didn’t hear him, what with the way he’s not even looking in Tyler’s direction.

He really kind of wishes he was looking. He goes for it anyway. “Like, the kind of mouth you want to put your mouth on.”

Pally jumps the boards for a line change.

 

3.

“Okay,” Tyler says. “I’m getting us shots. Because we were amazing tonight and we need to solidify our future dominance with alcohol.”

Pally gets up to let him squeeze out of the booth and Tyler waggles his eyebrows at him, a plan already forming in his head. It’s not like he’s been working very hard at hitting on Kuch lately but now that they’re lineys forever, it’s high time he picks back up where he left off.

He returns to the table with three glasses of the finest tequila and a little bowl of salt because the bartender wouldn’t give him the shaker. Kuch eyes the shot in front of him but makes no move to accept it.

“C’mon,” Tyler says. “Gimme your hand.”

He pulls the offered hand to his lips and does his best to make it nice and showy when he licks the skin between Kuch’s thumb and index finger. Like really, it’s some of his best work.

But Kuch’s face shows not even a flicker of appreciation. Not a blush or a pupil dilation (it’s dark, so Tyler won’t necessarily count that as a loss) or a nervous smile. Nothing.

“Right. So you lick the salt, take the shot, and bite the lime.”

Kuch leaves his hand, freshly salted, raised in the air as Tyler and Pally slam their own shots. His face looks a little blank and Tyler wonders how many drinks he’s had so far.

“You okay?”

That seems to snap him out of whatever daze he was in. He licks, shoots, and bites his way through the tequila like a pro.

“You obviously did not need to show him how to do that,” Pally scoffs.

“No one asked you.”

 

4.

“You wanna come over after practice? Some liney bonding time?” Tyler asks when they’re both breathing hard after a drill. “Pally’s making this chicken thing. It’s awesome.”

“Sure,” Kuch says before the whistle blows again.

 

Liney bonding time is Tyler’s code for snuggling on the couch and watching a movie they’ve all seen before. The problem is that Kuch hasn’t seen a lot of movies.

“Really? You’ve never seen Die Hard?”

“Might’ve seen the start once.”

“Okay. That’s going to change right now.”

Tyler starts it up and flops down between them on the couch, spreading himself out so that his thigh is pressed all along Kuch’s. He knows Pally noticed, knows he’s probably biting his tongue not to say something about the obviousness of it. Screw him, he doesn’t want subtle.

It’s a gradual thing, the way he transfers his weight to his left side and tucks his arm down into the couch, rolls his head toward him until his temple is just barely brushing the t-shirt that’s covering his shoulder. It’s almost halfway through the film before he lets the full weight of it settle there, his whole left side firmly against Kuch’s body. He’s the perfect snuggling temperature, a fact Tyler plans to rub in Pally’s face later when it’s just the two of them.

Tyler closes his eyes and tries to decide if Kuch has leaned into him at all, if his leg has pressed closer, but he can’t decide. To be honest, he can’t even feel him breathing. Which is ridiculous.

 

He wakes up a little later stretched out on the couch alone, the television black and all the lights off. “Kuch?”

“He left when the movie ended,” Pally says from the direction of his favorite chair. Tyler doesn’t have to look to know he’s reading something on his kindle.

“Why? We were cuddling,” he says sitting up and rubbing at his eyes.

“You were cuddling. He was looking confused.”

“What’s confusing about cuddling?”

“You should ask him.”

“Do you think he doesn’t like me?”

“I don’t know. You should ask him.”

“No. Definitely not,” he says. “Dancing! No one can resist my dancing.”

Pally mumbles something under his breath and Tyler knows better than to have him repeat it.

 

5.

The club is dark and crowded and exactly the type of place the team likes to go after a big win. A big playoff clinching win.

They’ve all been focused on hockey and their compete level and making it to the end in the best position they can and now…now it’s time to let loose.

Three vodka cranberries and a handful of shots in, Tyler hears his favorite song. Not like, his all-time favorite song, but it’s the one he’s currently playing on repeat. “I love this song!” he shouts.

“Your music taste continues to get worse,” Pally says, sipping on a gin and tonic.

“Dance with me!” he yells Kuch’s way.

“Not dancing song.”

“Everything is a dancing song. C’mon.”

He pulls Kuch into the mob of people bumping and grinding and gets to work. Which, okay, so he’s an absolutely terrible dancer, but given the right song he can shake what he’s got. And what he’s got is a really good hockey ass.

Kuch plays along, jumping and shimmying and laughing when Tyler tries to drop it to floor because _baby I’m worth it, uh huh, I’m worth it_.

“You sing as well as you dance,” he says, leaning close enough for his lips to brush the edges of Tyler’s ear.

“I know, I’m awesome,” he yells back, wrapping his fingers around Kuch’s waist to keep him close. “My hips don’t lie!”

Kuch actually laughs but Tyler quickly realizes he’s stopped dancing. He’s just standing there in the middle of the dance floor while Tyler rocks back and forth, trying to encourage him.

“Should get another drink,” he finally says, already walking away toward the bar.

Tyler stays and pouts for another song before slinking off to find Pally.

 

+1

“Maybe he really doesn’t like me,” he says in the middle of a front-squat.

“What?”

“Kuch,” he clarifies, exhaling sharply as he stands. “Maybe he just doesn’t think I’m cute.”

Tyler relishes the range of emotions that flit across Pally’s features. “Maybe you’re not as good at flirting as you think you are.”

He racks the bar. “Oh please. I was almost voted _class flirt_ my senior year in high school. I know how to flirt.”

“Okay. So just ask him to dinner, then. Be obvious. Maybe he thinks you’re just being you. Instead of this special brand of you that only pops up when he’s around.”

Tyler rolls the idea around in his mind as he gets more chalk on his hands. “You think he’d say yes?”

“That is why you need to ask.”

He crushes another set of squats. “Where should I take him? You think he likes Olive Garden?”

“That’s _our_ place. I will not have it tarnished,” Pally scolds, stepping under the bar.

“Fine. You think a steakhouse is too fancy?”

Pally exhales harshly. “I’m not planning your hypothetical date for you.”

“What if it’s not hypothetical?”

He rolls his eyes. “It’s Kuch. He likes fancy things. Look at the way he dresses,” he says before dropping into another squat.

“You’re right. Fancy steakhouse it is.”

Tyler crosses the weight room to where Kuch is deadlifting a bar with an impressive amount of plates on it. “Hey.”

Kuch drops the bar. “Hi.”

“Would you like to get dinner with me tonight?”

“Hm, where?”

“I was thinking somewhere with a nice steak, maybe a bottle of wine. Do you like wine?”

“I like nice wine.”

“So, yes?”

“Pally coming?”

“Uh, no. No, I thought it could just be us.”

“Us.”

“Like a date.”

Kuch squints at him. “You and him break up?”

“Break…what? Me and Pally? No! We’re not…we weren’t. No.” Tyler flaps his hand toward Pally and tries not to laugh.

“You weren’t…”

“No. Not at all.”

“Oh.” Kuch picks at the tape wrapped around his right wrist. “A date. With nice wine.”

“Just you and me,” Tyler agrees.

“Okay.”

And Tyler loves the soft flush in his cheeks, the shy little smile that curls along his lips. Lips he’s _totally_ gonna kiss tonight. "I'll pick you up at seven."


End file.
